Monday, November 6, 2017

Francis Stuart Low (1894-1964): World War II Admiral

Francis Stuart Low and gravestone

Requa Family PlotPLOT 9

Rear Admiral Francis Stuart Low was born in Albany, New York in 1894. He
was a graduate of the US Naval Academy, Annapolis in 1915. His second wife was Alice Requa, whose parents were Mark and Florence Requa, prominent East Bay members of High Society.

During WWI
he served in submarines and later worked on submarine and torpedo
research. Vice Admiral Low played an important part in the Allied effort to combat German sub­marines during World War II. He was Chief of Staff for a time to Admiral Ernest J. King, Chief of Naval Operations, who di­rected the 10th Fleet. The 10th Fleet, organized in 1943 to counter a German sub­marine campaign, used surface and air forces of the Atlantic Fleet and sea frontier forces.

Ladislas Farago's book "The Tenth Fleet"

During
World War II he also served in the Pacific, as com­mander of a cruiser
division in the invasion of Okinawa and in strikes against the Japanese
mainland. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which entered
America into World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked his top
military leaders to figure out a way to strike back at Japan's homeland
as quickly as possible. In response to the President's urging, Captain
Low then an Anti-Submarine Warfare Officer on Admiral Ernest King's
staff, presented the plan it might be possible for Army medium bombers
to take off from a Navy carrier.

When Captain Low took his concept to
the President and his Military General Staff, four squadrons of B-25
bombers of US Army Air Corps volunteers under the command of Lieutenant
Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle were formed and put into secret
training. Thus of April 18, 1942, sixteen B-25 bombers lunched from the
carrier USS Hornet, resulted in Jimmy Doolittle's air raid against Tokyo
Japan which marked the beginning toward victory for America and her
allies in World War II.

After
the war he was in charge of neutralizing all Japa­nese naval
installations in Ko­rea, Commander of the Service Force of the Pacific
Fleet and Deputy Chief of Naval Opera­tions (logistics). From 1953
un­til his retirement in 1956 he was Commander of the West­ern Sea
Frontier.

2 comments:

Why is there no way to contact you Michael? I have tried several times to find a way. I have a couple interesting people at Mountain View I think you'd be interested in. Also there is no search to look for notable people in Mountain View. Is Walter J. Mathews listed here?